


faith

by cirrus (themorninglark)



Series: SASO 2017 [23]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Challenge: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics | SASO 2017, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11581230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themorninglark/pseuds/cirrus
Summary: The thing is, Tadashi knows, Sugawara’s stubbornness is legendary, and he’s always held close to his idea ofsomeone like Tadashi, even when Tadashi himself told him he was wrong.





	faith

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SASO 2017 Bonus Round 4: Quotes | [originally posted here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/23665.html?thread=14030705#cmt14030705)
> 
> [“You can do it! For some reason, it just feels like you can pull it off!”](http://68.media.tumblr.com/ddb472592fd03632c40e5f471d743a13/tumblr_ory7ud53ZP1qbn9kfo2_1280.png)  
> ― Suga to Yamaguchi, Chapter 259

It will be years before they meet again, though it’s not like he’s been too nervous to make contact; at least, that’s what Tadashi tells himself. The steady blossoming in his chest has never quite faded. Neither has the firm grip of Sugawara’s hands on his. It was the first time someone held him like they believed he would not break, and when Tadashi seeks him out on the third years’ graduation day, reaches to shake his hand and wish him well (and selfishly, selfishly, relive that sensation, not as gentle as he’d once imagined but so infinitely kind)—  
  
It’s Sugawara who surprises him yet again, as he laughs off Tadashi’s stiffness and wraps his arms tight around him instead. That day, Tadashi learns two things: that they are of a height for Sugawara’s cheek to press warm against his, and that Sugawara’s hugs could knock the breath out of a grown man, never mind someone like Tadashi.  
  
The thing is, Tadashi knows, Sugawara’s stubbornness is legendary, and he’s always held close to his idea of  _someone like Tadashi_ , even when Tadashi himself told him he was wrong.  
  
_I’m not as brave as you think I am, Sugawara-san. I’m scared. All the time._  
  
_…so am I, you know._  
  
Sugawara’s voice is quiet, when he says that. They are sitting side by side on the bench as they always do, and it is after hours and they’re the last ones in the gym. Sugawara has the keys. Tadashi’s just finished packing away the nets. He clasps his hands in his lap, presses his palms together and turns to look at Sugawara, who’s picking at a stray thread in the hem of his jacket.  
  
He winds it round his finger absently. Just as it looks like he’s about to snap it off, he lets it go, leans back and meets Tadashi’s gaze with a faint smile. In that moment, Tadashi grits his teeth, knows his faith is a resilient thing.  
  
It will be years, and Tadashi will spend them scrolling past Sugawara’s number in his phone, wondering if he should call him. Moving away, apart, walking their own paths, none of it is any reason in itself for distance, but perhaps there’s no reason either for him to presume their closeness.  
  
At least, that’s what he tells himself—  
  
He’s at a  _combini_  that night, a little shop on a corner like any other, and there’s a moth fluttering around the street light overhead and a fresh  _nikuman_  in a paper bag. From the radio crackling near the store counter, he hears the excited commentary of some Olympic match, and finds himself thinking of Kageyama and Hinata with a pang of fondness.   
  
Tadashi’s own dreams were never so lofty, and he once wondered if that was okay, to be proud of what little he had achieved. To wear the  _number 1_  bold on his back like it belonged there.  
  
It’s Sugawara’s words that always come back to him. He never asked how Sugawara knew, back then; it was enough that he did, and Tadashi had stepped out to claim his place on the court.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, there’s one more thing he can pull off after all this time.  
  
_Nikuman_  still steaming in his hand, Tadashi pulls out his phone, and hits that number at last.


End file.
